In response to the letter “It’s all the same” published June 10
I was deeply offended and outraged by Dan Bercu’s overtly anti-Semitic letter to the editor in last week’s edition of The Malibu Times. The letter starts off by stating that Abraham was “more promiscuous than Jeffrey Epstein” and goes on to say that a devious Jacob “cemented Jews’ reputation as shrewd Wall Street traders.” It is exactly this kind of horrible stereotype of money grubbing Jews which has been used to incite violence against the Jews throughout history. Giving Mr. Bercu all benefit of the doubt, it is conceivable that he was trying to be funny, but his use of stereotypes was hurtful, not remotely amusing.
I strongly believe in freedom of the press, but hate speech, whether intended or not, has no place in our community nor in The Malibu Times, a paper whose owners I admire and am proud to call my friends. This letter should be immediately deleted from the paper’s website, and future letters from Mr. Bercu should be reviewed more carefully and placed in the trash when appropriate.
Burt Ross